The objectives of this project are: (1) to identify, adapt and pretest methods of measuring the bacterial and chemical composition of dental plaque and saliva and (2) to conduct short-term clinical studies of agents which might be capable of restricting dental plaque and caries. The purpose of the present investigation was to determine the time fluoride remained elevated in saliva following the use of an oral rinse (OR), a swish and swallow tablet (SS) and a slow dissolving tablet (SD), and to determine the distribution of fluoride in the SD to various areas of the oral cavity. The oral rinse (10m1) contained 9 mg F and the tablets contained 1 mg F. Five minutes after expectoration of the OR or complete dissolution of the tablets, the following levels of fluoride (ppm) were noted in the expectorated saliva: OR 43.3, S 7.5, and SD 12.9. Fluoride levels in all treatment groups decreased to less than 50 ppb after 24 hours. Saliva sampled near the site where the tablets dissolved contained 30 ppm F; whereas, samples from the remaining quadrants exhibited less than six ppm F.